Events in Music History in 1933

Premiere of "Cavalcade"

Jan 5 "Cavalcade" based on the play by Noël Coward, directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook premieres in New York (Best Production/Picture 1934)

Playwright, Director and Singer Noël Coward

Jan 7 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical "Shuffle Along" closes at Mansfield Theater, NYC, after 17 performances

"Of Thee I Sing"

Jan 14 George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind's musical political satire "Of Thee I Sing" closes at the Music Box Theatre, NYC, after for 441 performances; first musical to win Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Jan 24 Noël Coward's stage comedy "Design for Living", starring Alfred Lunt; Lynn Fontanne, and Coward himself, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 155 performances

King Kong

Mar 2 "King Kong" film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Fay Wray premieres at Radio City Music Hall and RKO Roxy in NYC

Mar 9 "42nd Street" a musical film revolving around rehearsals for a Broadway show, directed by Lloyd Bacon, with choreography by Busby Berkeley, and songs by Harry Warren and by Al Dubin, premieres at the Strand, NYC; later adapted as a stage musical
Mar 23 Kroll Opera in Berlin, Germany opens

Shostakovich's Preludes

May 24 Dmitri Shostakovich's Preludes premieres in Moscow

May 25 Spanish piano virtuoso José Iturbi makes his conducting debut, leading an orchestra at the Teatro Hidalgo in Mexico City, Mexico

7 Deadly Sins

Jun 7 George Balanchine and Kurt Weills' ballet chanté "7 Deadly Sins" premieres in Paris

Jul 1 Strauss & von Hofmannsthal's opera "Arabella," premieres at the Semperoper Opera House in Dresden, Germany
Jul 22 Caterina Jarboro sings "Aida" at the New York Hippodrome, becoming the 1st black female opera singer to perform in the US